Undiagnosed Hemorrhagic Fever, India

Another patient in India has been hospitalized because of an undiagnosed Hemorrhagic fever. This patient, Sampat Jain, is currently being taken care of in Mumbai's Kasturba hospital awaiting diagnosis by doctors and tests from the National Institute of Virology. After observing all the patients signs and symptoms and performing numerous test, authorities originally named Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic fever a potential cause of the disease.

Crimean-Congo Fever is part of the family, Bunyaviridae. It is and RNA virus that is particularly prevalent in East and West Africa, with a mortality rate of 30%. This disease is arbo, spread mostly by ticks, and often infects those who handle animals. Health officials surveyed the surrounding area and neighboring families, but have not reported any more cases.

In the first of the two sources below, it was announced that the probable cause of illness was CCHF. This seemed unlikely, though, when considering the means of transmission and the geographic areas affected. (The virus is neither endogenous nor common in the area.) On sunday officials declared that the patient did not have CCHF. However, both human patients and cattle (large mammals who also carry the virus) are still being tested for the virus.

Further tests have yet to be performed, but so far the patient's fever, brain hemorrhage, and renal failure have left him in critical condition.